Prisoner of War
by samurai girl93
Summary: This is my entry in the Underneath the Underneath challenge. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

Hi everyone! Ok i know that a lot of you want to laughter me 'cause i haven't updated sooner with my other stories. I have been really busy with schoolwork (CAPE aka caribbean Advanced levels are killing me!) and i took part in this fanfic competition on Live Journal - The Underneath the Underneath Challenger hosted by no other than the crafty nimblnymph. Congrats to all winners! And now i present to you my entry - Prisoner of War.

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_Prisoner Of War_

_CHAPTER 1_:

It started with a bang. The force of the explosion shook the ground underneath the barracks and upsetting every unstable surface in the main camp. The team of Leaf shinobi woke up, startled by the noise and immediately scrambled out of their tents, kunai in hand, only to witness the second round of paper bomb explosions, completely destroying the large farming village, on the north-western border of Fire Country.

For the past two months, the relationship between the Fire daimyo and the feudal lord, who governed the Hidden grass village, was on tender hooks since The Fire country had stopped trading with the small village.

Amidst the entire explosion, newly appointed jonin commander, Shikamaru Nara, rushed outside with his second in command, Neji Hyuga and Head medic, Sakura Haruno at his heels.

"What the hell is going on?" shouted Shikamaru, as he and his subordinates skidded to a halt at the edge of the cliff, over looking the fire-ridden agricultural land. Screams billowed upwards towards them and Shikamaru's mouth fell open in shock, dropping his partially lit cigarette.

Sakura gasped and pressed her fist to her mouth; her viridian eyes reflected the fire's resilience. Neji's clairvoyant eyes widened in shock and he immediately activated his Byakugan. Shikamaru turned towards him and asked him, "Neji how extensive is the damage?"

"Over 200 square miles," he responded.

Shikamaru shouted to the rest of the eight man squad, mainly comprised of the original Konoha 11 to do some damage control in the valley below. They had been placed on the border, by the Rokudaime Hokage to keep an extra eye out for the enemy. They had all been anticipating this, but the Hidden Grass Village had the jonin of Konoha off guard.

"Shikamaru, do you want me to go down there as well," asked Sakura. She knew there was slim chance that there were any survivors, but it was her job to ensure that the injured were heeled. After all the war was between two obnoxious leaders, whose only main concern was their respective economies and these poor people were right in the middle of an ongoing war.

Shikamaru was about to answer her when a team of ANBU operatives appeared in front of them; their leader was wielding a pair of blood stained katanas and the rest of the team holding what looked like a corpse, wrapped in white bed linen.

"Commander Nara, we have bad news," started the ANBU leader, wearing the cat mask.

"What the hell is going on?" Shikamaru repeated, dumbfounded by the sudden appearance of the shinobi elites. "I thought the Hokage gave you a recon mission in the Hidden Grass Village. You were supposed to report back to the Hokage on your findings since yesterday!" shouted Shikamaru angrily.

"We couldn't respond to the honorable Hokage immediately Commander Nara," responded the leader, the blood from his blades now dripping on the grass. "We were ambushed by the Jonin of the Grass Village and we were forced to fight."

"Are you trying to tell us that that bombing was a result of your screw up?" Sakura yelled over the loud crackling noises the fire was making below.

"In essence, yes."

"What the hell do you mean by that?" Shikamaru shouted at them. "And whose blood is that on you swords?" It was then the sheet was lifted and the corpse's face was revealed. It was the son of the feudal lord of the Hidden Grass Village.

"Oh no," whispered Sakura as Shikamaru cursed and pulled at his hair in madness.

Sakura reached forward and kneeled next to the young boy before her. She pressed her fingers to his wrist to confirm that he was in fact dead for a while now, since his skin felt like ice against hers.

"He's dead, guys," she said aloud.

"We didn't mean to kill him," said another ANBU operative wearing the raccoon mask. "_He _attacked our leader using some unknown ninjutsu and we needed to protect ourselves. And you should also see this," he added while he flung a mask just like the one he was wearing on the ground next to its owner.

"He was ANBU?" asked Shikamaru and he knelt next to Sakura as she rolled up his left sleeve to expose the black tattoo.

"There's your answer, Shika," replied Sakura dryly.

Shikamaru rubbed his hands over his face. They were all in deep trouble now; the Feudal Lord would probably be out for blood now and it was essential that the Hokage and the Fire Daimyo be informed immediately. He stood and directed his words to the team of elite shinobi in front of him.

"You three are to warn the Fire Daimyo and protect him with your lives. We will send support as soon as possible. The rest of you will send word to the Hokage and tell him that we need reinforcements on the Border pronto."

"What are we supposed to tell them about the situation, Commander?" asked the ANBU leader.

"Shikamaru, you need to see this," called Neji. The Hyuga prodigy was standing close to edge of the cliff, with his Byakugan eyes focused on something in the horizon.

"What's wrong, Neji?" asked Shikamaru as he and Sakura hastened to his side.

The bulging veins around his eyes vanished and Neji frowned. "The enemy has infiltrated the border. They are advancing towards the Hidden Leaf Village."

Shikamaru groaned. "Change of plan then. Those of you, who can reach the Hokage the fastest, give him the red alert. Tell him to send any available jonin and chunin immediately. Tell him we are at war!"

The ANBU team nodded and disappeared just as suddenly as they had arrived. Shikamaru, Neji and Sakura stood side by side over looking the destruction before them.

"Shikamaru, what are we going to do now?" asked Sakura boldly. "We have to do something!"

"We are Sakura. Neji go to the left and gather as much of our comrades as possible and assemble 2 miles away from the border. Sakura, you do the same from the right. I'll do the same from the centre. We'll all congregate and try to head them off. We cannot allow them to reach any closer!"

٭

Sakura had started moving obliquely to the others and took a route closest to the housing development where most of her teammates would carry any survivors to seek refuge. This part of the area was known for its thick forest and the smoke of the nearby bush fire made the air hazy. The pink haired ninja continued running in one direction until she was met with a dead end.

"What the hell is going on?" she said aloud. She paused and drew a kunai from her pocket just as she heard a scream to her left. She deviated from the path only to find a totally bloodied Genma Shiranui, tied to the trunk of a tree in the middle of the clearing. Sakura ran towards him screaming, "Genma, what the hell happened to you?"

His eyes fluttered open weakly and he started when he saw her. "No Sakura, it's a trap!"

But no sooner had the whispered words left his mouth, Sakura felt a burning sensation across her back like a whip, and like a marionette whose strings were cut she fell; her usually lively green eyes staring blankly into space. And the last thing she saw was glinting metal of Grass shinobi's headband.

٭

Kakashi Hatake woke up with a start. Sweat ran down every inch of his bare torso; his knuckles starkly white as he clutched at his sheets breathing heavily. It was obvious that he had a nightmare, but it wasn't like his usual ones. This one wasn't about his father of about Obito. Instead it was marred by the image of a pink-haired woman dying by the hands of the enemy during a shinobi cold war.

His pink-haired woman. His Sakura. The same Sakura who had been invading is thoughts ever since she had turned eighteen. The same Sakura who had been sharing his bed for the past six months, in secret; a secret that no one knew, not even the Rokudaime Hokage himself, even though Kakashi and Sakura trusted Naruto with their lives.

Kakashi slid off of his duvet and headed to his bathroom, where he promptly splashed some sold water onto his pale face. He stared at himself in the mirror and chuckled to himself. He had been so paranoid ever since Naruto called her name when he announced the eight-man squad to be stationed close to border to monitor the Hidden Grass Village's activities. She had promised him that she would keep herself safe and she would come back in one piece. After all it was just supposed to be a reconnaissance mission.

The alarm clock chimed to indicate that it was 2 am. Kakashi rubbed his eyes and traipsed lazily back to his bed, where he immediately dropped onto it and sighed. He would ask Naruto if he had heard anything from the barracks. But for the time being he settled for thinking about his lover and the last time they were together.

Her scent of vanilla, her soft skin, her soft lips panting for more…

_Knock, knock!_

Kakashi snorted in his sleep and sat up at the noise. He was barely asleep for 30 minutes and already someone was knocking at his front door. Grumbling about how early it was, he pulled his mask over is lower face and stalked to his front door in half-asleep.

The front door flung open to reveal ANBU black ops wearing a panther mask. "Kakashi Hatake, the Hokage as requested your immediate presence in his office." And without waiting for a reply, he disappeared leaving Kakashi totally mystified.

٭

When he entered the Hokage office, he noticed that every available jonin and chunin from the village was all gathered in the office. Noticing that Kakashi had finally arrived, Naruto addressed the crowd of elite leaf shinobi.

"I'm sorry to wake you all, but I have some bad news. The Hidden Grass Village has declared war on Konoha and by extension, the Fire Country."

"Hokage-sama, what as brought this on?" asked Izumo.

"I have received word from Shikamaru Nara that the team of ANBU who were sent behind enemy lines, were engaged in battle with Grass shinobi and had killed the son of the feudal lord, unknowing of his status.

"You have got to be freaking kidding me!" exclaimed Shizune, while others muttered in agreement.

Naruto held up his hand to silence his ninja army and continued, "I am afraid that it is much serious than that. Shikamaru and his team tried to prevent them from infiltrating the border, but their efforts were futile. One amongst their ranks were taken hostage and this letter," he waved a piece of parchment, "was sent to me from the opposing jonin commander." He read from the paper, "Rokudaime Hokage, you should not have interfered with my business with your Fire Daimyo. Since the feudal lord's son was murdered by your men, then it is only fitting that we trade his life with one amongst your ranks. She was taken hostage by my men this afternoon, and she will be assassinated tomorrow at daybreak in the presence of our feudal lord."

Silence enveloped the room and suddenly Kakashi started to cold sweat. He said 'she' but the question that burned his throat refused to come out.

"Hokage-sama, who is the hostage?" asked Kurenai, tentatively.

"It's Sakura," he whispered in return and gasps of horror echoed around the office. And as for Kakashi, he felt as though a ton of bricks had suddenly fallen from the sky and clonked him on his head.


	2. Chapter 2

_CHAPTER 2_:

The first thing Sakura had remembered when she had woken up what felt like hours later, was that her wrists and ankles were in shackles and her prison was cold and damp, like a cell in the basement of someone's house. It was extremely dark and it took a good couple of minutes for her eyes to adjust to the lack of light. She shifted slightly only to gasp in pain; everywhere hurt like mad, especially her head. Her chakra signals were weak and, she concluded, that there was no way she would be able to break free from her chains of bondage. She tried to stand, but to no avail; her knees buckled immediately causing her to fall back onto the ground with a bump.

_Ok then_, she thought, _maybe the bolts to the wall aren't strong enough_ and started to pull against the wall, but that accomplished nothing except that her cuffs grew tighter around her wrists, almost cutting into them. The sounds made by the heavy chains when the dragged on the cold, concrete floor gained the attention on a shinobi standing guard outside of the cell hidden in he darkness.

His ungainly footfalls reached Sakura's ears causing her to stop fidgeting with the restraints. _Why couldn't I sense his chakra?_ She asked herself. _Oh crap it is worse than I thought!_ She could only make out is outline when he neared her.

"Well, well. Look who woke up," he sneered at her.

"You son of a bitch! Where the hell am I and what the fuck did you do to me?" she growled at the man, who only laughed at her as though he was patronizing like if she was a child.

"You're a spunky little kunoichi aren't you pinky?" he chuckled placing his index finger under her chin and tilting her face upwards until it was mere inches from his. His putrid breath wafted across her face making her stomach turn instantly, and she was sure that her face had turned green.

She tossed her head causing him to lose his grip on her chin making him laugh some more. "You can't remember anything, can't you pinky?"

"You know," she spoke through her gritted teeth, "I really hate to repeat myself, but just for this one time I will from someone as stupid and ignorant as yourself. Where on kami's green earth am I?"

"You're in the Grass Village's holding cell of course. Surely you were not expecting us to retreat quietly after you killed our feudal lord's son?"

"So is that why I'm here. You're going to execute me," her voice was steeled with anger.

"Sure we are," he replied cheerily, as though someone had given him gift. "You know the old saying – an eye for an eye…"

"I understand that. I just think it's kind of unfair seeing that it was _your ninja_ that attacked ours in the first place. The Leaf shinobi were just defending themselves," she argued.

"Defending themselves against a ninja whose skill was obviously beneath them," the unknown man countered.

"Oh yeah? So explain to me why the feudal lord's son was sporting an ANBU tattoo on his left shoulder huh?" she retorted, her voice indicating that she was starting to lose her cool.

The man didn't reply but stuttered at her observation. _He obviously wasn't expecting us to examine the body_, she thought smirking, and then said aloud, "You're all deceitful! You are endangering innocent lives because of politics and you assume killing me on the square would justify it. Think again! I am Sakura Haruno, apprentice to the Godaime and the second-best medical ninja in the damn Fire Country. And by the way, the Rokudaime and I go way back, so even if you successfully kill me, he'll come after you. And then we'll see whose leader is more powerful – my Hokage, or your pathetic daimyo."

That was the last straw. The minute her rant had ended, the callused hand of her guard ripped across her face with lightning speed. Her cheek burned and she was sure her skin became bruised by the slap. She coughed and she tasted the metallic flavor of her blood, dripping out from the cut caused when her inner cheek banged against her sharp molars.

"You bitch," he scowled at her finally sounding as though Sakura's words had hit home, "I'll make sure that you never get out of this alive." He stomped across the room and flung some food on the ground next to her, expecting her to eat it as though she was some sort of animal. "You better enjoy that while it last," he said referring to the food, "'cause that's gonna be your last meal."

He then stomped of into the black abyss leaving Sakura in her cell to reflect on their conversation. Suddenly realization hit her. _So they are going to kill me_, she thought while a thin stream of tears crept down her face. _I'm never going to see Kakashi again!_

٭

The only thing that prevented Kakashi from killing his Hokage was the fact that he would be tried for treason. Everyone just stood there, whispering and muttering words of concern under their breaths and time was passing. Every minute that passed meant that his lover was suffering. Every second that passed counted down to her execution.

Kakashi growled and shouted at Naruto, "Naruto what the hell are you waiting for? You need to send a rescue team immediately! If they leave now they can reach before daybreak."

Naruto was looking more harassed than usual, which is understandable seeing that Sakura was like the sister he never had. So when Kakashi made his outburst, it aloud Naruto to shift from friend mode into Hokage mode and started sharing instructions like crazy. "I'm going to send a six-man squad to the Hidden Grass Village. Yamato, Izumo, Kotetsu, I'm sending you to go to the Grass village but first take a detour to the barracks and join up forces with Shikamaru and Neji."

Hinata, who was standing next to her husband for the entire mission, asked him, "But Naruto that's five ninja. Who's the sixth?"

Naruto's blue eyes immediately became fixed onto Kakashi's lone onyx one. "Well that's obvious! Kakashi's team leader of course," he replied tossing the scroll at his silver-haired sensei once upon a time.

"Alright everybody!" he called to the shinobi. "You all have your tasks, so move out!"

٭

"Kakashi slow down man!"

They were moving at breakneck speed and even though Kakashi, and probably Yamato, would be able to keep up with the pace, the two chunin couldn't. Both Izumo and Kotetsu were soon out of breath and needed to take a break to catch their breaths.

Yamato who was running along side with Kakashi said, "Taichou, I think we should stop for a minute. We're only forty miles away from the border. Couldn't we just…"

"No," Kakashi snapped at him. "We're wasting time. Sakura's life's at stake and it's not something I want to gamble with. Naruto shouldn't have even sent her to the border," he added angrily.

Yamato looked sideways at him and asked, "You really love her don't you?" But Kakashi refused to answer and Yamato took that for a yes. Even though they kept their relationship under wraps, it was kind of obvious to the ANBU operative that they both had been in a relationship for long time now.

Kakashi closed his eyes and sighed. "Fine," he called to his subordinates, "we'll take a ten minute break. Only ten minutes!" he repeated as Izumo and Kotetsu immediately dropped to the forest floor.

There was a stream nearby so Kakashi volunteered to fetch water. But after ten minutes and the team leader didn't return, Yamato went looking for him.

When Yamato returned to the resting site, Kotetsu asked, "Senpai, where's Hatake?"

"He already left for the Grass Village."

٭

The sun was just rising over the mountain peaks when Kakashi reached the village gates. He wore a hooded cloak over his jonin outfit and disarmed the guards with his mangekyo sharingan. The swirling tomoe in his eye caused the shinobi to be trapped in a dimension of torture which enabled the silver-haired man to put them in a comatose state.

His left eye hurt like hell afterwards and he felt relatively weaker since the Tsukuyomi drained a large amount of his chakra and left his optical nerves inflamed. But he didn't care, because all he was concerned about was making sure Sakura was safe and sound.

He stalked into the village, masking his chakra and pulling his hood over his head covering his face slightly. He moved like a ghost through the village, blending into the mist using the Hidden Mist technique he had copied from Zabuza Momochi years previously during Team 7's first A-class mission. He entered the village and hid in the shadows close to the feudal lord's palace. A man exited the back door and walked to the moat where he sat and pulled out a cigarette to take a smoke. Kakashi crept up behind the unsuspecting servant who was obviously not a ninja and placed a hand over his mouth, while the man dropped his cigarette in shock.

"I am going to ansk you a couple of questions. You will not make a sound to you understand?" asked Kakashi dangerously. The man nodded feverishly and Kakashi uncovered his mouth but placed a kunai to his carotid artery, causing the man to gulp.

When Kakashi spoke, his voice was quiet yet it had a very dangerous undertone. "Your leader apprehended a Leaf Shinobi yesterday. Do you know where she is?"

"The p-pink haired g-girl?" the servant stuttered.

"Yes."

"I don't k-now ex-ac-t-tly where," Kakashi pressed the blade edge against his skin causing him to continue talking at a rapid place, "b-ut she would probably be kept captive in the prisons."

"Where?" Kakashi asked pressing the weapon against his skin harder so that it imprinted into his neck.

"In the basement!" he shrieked.

"Than you for your services," replied Kakashi before he knocked the man unconscious. He dragged the unconscious man into some nearby bushes and went into the palace blindly.

He maneuvered his way through the labyrinth of corridors and was able to find the prison. It was dark and damn and he only had to go a little way until he heard the sound of chains dragging on the ground. The person dropped to the ground and the woman started to sob. Kakashi searched through his pockets in a frenzy looking for a lighter and soon he used the instrument to cast some light into the room revealing a pink-haired, defeated-looking woman.

She looked up to see where light source was coming from and her eyes widened when she saw who it was.

"Kakashi! What are you doing here?" she gasped.

He rolled his eyes and smirked, "That is the most stupid question I had ever heard."

It was now Sakura's turn to smile, "Are you going to get me out of here boyfriend?"

Her lover shrugged and immediately performed the series of hand signals and soon the chirping of birds was heard indicating that his chidori was activated. He used the lightning blade to break open the prison gate causing a deafening bang that echoed throughout the feudal lord's mansion.

He walked briskly towards Sakura and snapped the chains with his bear hands aided with chakra and pulled her up, crushing her petite frame to his taller one in bear hug that knocked the wind out of her.

"Kakashi! Can't breathe!" she gasped and took a couple of deep breaths after he released her, but keeping his arms firmly wrapped around her waist.

She looked up at him and his face lowered to kiss her, but the effect was ruined when he touched her cheek causing her wince. His eyes widened in alarm and raised the light to her face and snarled when he saw the purple marks on her face.

He cupped her chin gingerly and tilted her face to examine the bruises further. "Who did this to you?" he asked angrily, but before she could give her reply someone else entered the conversation.

"I did," said the same prison guard, "and you must be the infamous Copy Ninja." His beady little eyes moved from Kakashi's face to the position where his arms were wrapped protectively around Sakura. "Oh I get it! Pinky here's your girl! No wonder you came here all alone."

"What? Kakashi you did not come here with out any back up," asked Sakura incredulously. _It could only be Kakashi to come barging in here with no support_, her inner self thought rolling her eyes. But the outer Sakura wasn't so sarcastic; how on earth were the going to escape.

"Oh trust me I didn't come here all by myself," Kakashi quipped. He held out his wrist and looked at it as though he was reading the time on a watch while saying, "My team will be in here in 3…2…1…"

An explosion was heard and pieces of concrete and plaster went flying to reveal a large hole in the adjacent wall with five lethal looking leaf shinobi standing in the opening.

When the entered, Izumo whined, "Geez Kakashi, ten minutes wouldn't have killed ya!" This caused Kakashi to grin.

Shikamaru came closer and said, "Nice to see that you're still in the land of the living Sakura." He then turned to Kakashi, "Get her out of here. We'll clean up around here and rendezvous at the barracks.

Kakashi nodded his head and led Sakura back to the sanctuary of their country.

٭

"Could you be a bit gentler?"

"Sorry honey."

Sakura groaned at the new nickname. "Stop please."

"What?" inquired Kakashi pausing to look at her with a swab damp with rubbing alcohol inches from her face.

"Stop calling me honey. It's sounds weird coming from you."

"Do you mind if I call you sweetheart then?" That comment made her growl. He chuckled and continued cleaning her wounds.

He threw away the contaminated swab and placed his hands on Sakura's hips, while resting is forehead on hers. "I don't know what I would have done if I had lost you," he said softly, looking deep into her viridian eyes.

Sakura put her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. "I missed you too," she whispered back.

He lowered his mask and brushed his soft lips over hers, his tongue massaging hers and her teeth nipping at his lips; both of them hoping that the team would hurry up so that they could continue this at either of their places.

They pulled away from each other when they sensed their comrades' arrival. Shikamaru walked over to the couple oblivious of what happened and asked, "You ok Sakura?"

"Yeah I'll be fine," she replied, "I just want to go home."

"And we will soon. The Grass Village has just surrendered."

"Seriously?" asked Kakashi and Sakura in unison.

"Yeah, apparently they were scared of how easily the leaf shinobi were able to infiltrate their village. So the feudal lord surrendered. He's writing a long apology for the fire daimyo and the Hokage as we speak." The chunin removed a cigarette from its pack and light it before placing it into his mouth.

"So it's all over then," sighed Sakura, leaning her head on Kakashi's chest.

"Yes, it's finally over," replied Shikamaru.

He removed his cigarette and pressed his half-smoked butt onto the table, putting out the ash as if to signal the end of the civil unrest between the two shinobi villages.

It ended with a cigarette.


End file.
